REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.

Sec. Microbial Immunology

The microbiome: Regulating anti-tumor immunity

  • 1. Affiliated Hospital, Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, China

  • 2. Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region People's Hospital, Hohhot, China

  • 3. Dingzhou People's Hospital, Dingzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Abstract

Microorganisms distributed throughout the human body have always been a complex ecosystem that has long coexisted with other organisms. They are involved in essential key links, such as nutrient absorption, energy regulation, metabolism, toxin clearance, and immune regulation. With a deeper understanding of the microbiome, many studies have shown that the microbiome is also actively involved in the occurrence and development of tumors. The core mechanism of dysregulated microorganisms and their derivatives in the treatment response and toxicity management of tumors is the regulation of the immune function. This article explores the evolution of the microbiome and its impact on the immune function during tumor progression, and focuses on analyzing cutting-edge treatment strategies targeting the microbiome, as well as future research directions and challenges in clinical translation.

Summary

Keywords

Cells, immune, Immunity, microbiome, microenvironment, Regulatory, tumor

Received

06 January 2026

Accepted

20 February 2026

Copyright

© 2026 Tao, Wang, Wu, Liu, 刘亚男, Zhu, Lian and Liang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: ShuFen Zhu

Disclaimer

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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